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SCMP Reporter

Ericsson's GH 337 mobile phone swept awards worldwide when it was released last year.

  Slim and light yet robust and with long battery life, the GH 377 is not much bigger than a chocolate bar.

  But using the same Magnesium frame, the latest GH 388 weighs less than 200 grams with standard battery. Battery life has been extended from a maximum of 35 hours standby and three hours twenty minutes talk time to up to 80 hours standby and four hours 25 minutes talk time.

  Built at Ericsson's highly automated surface mount production line in Kumla, Sweden, the 388 differs from the 377 in several respects.

  Physically, the phone is slimmer because instead of being constructed from two printed circuit boards stacked back to back, the 388 is made with a single board. In upgrading components to fit on the board, Ericsson has also extended the functions offered on the 388 from those on the 337.

  The memory has been increased, extra ringing tones have been added and the 388 supports caller line identification so users can see who is ringing them before answering.

  The 388 can also send and receive short messages and faxes up to 160 characters long and can be attached to a laptop computer via a modem and communicate at 9,600 bits per second. The phone can also be used as a calculator and an alarm clock.

  The latest developments to the GH 337/388 frame do not mean that Ericsson has reached the end of the road as far development goes.

  The firm is already trialling dual mode/dual frequency mobile phones. The first is a dual GSM/PCN telephone that will automatically choose between the two systems depending on availability.

  Hong Kong is expected to have up to six PCN operators - provided the Chinese side of the Joint Liason Group approves - and all the GSM operators have applied for a licence.

  The trial PCN/GSM phone is a rather awkward hybrid - it contains two radio transmitters and has two antenna sticking out the top. Ericsson officials say a way round this problem is being worked on.

  Another dual mode phone works on GSM and DECT. DECT, digitally enhanced cordless telephone, is a system designed for use in offices allowing employees to carry their phones around with them instead of leaving them tied to their desks.



Ericsson goes one step further in time